In the whole set up of a website, you might consider what type of monetizing plan you want to try. There are quite a few options.

- Self-hosted banner advertising

- Banner advertising with a company like BuySellAds, Project Wonderful, and more.

- Text Ads wit Text Link Ads, Google Adwords, and even Adbrite.

Of course, there are more places. These are just a few examples.

But STOP! You need to have a site with content, and then have traffic. Without traffic, how can you make money?

A lot of people think that just having a website means people will automatically come. It is not as simple as quoted in the movie Field of Dreams – “If you build it, he will come.”

There is more work involved. You can place all the right keywords, but that might attract and make people stay, subscribe, and become a regular… even a customer. It important to create a reputable presence for your site. Connect with others in your niche and allow them to give feedback. Return comments or make your visitors feel welcomed.

Once your site picks up enough traffic, you can finally start experimenting on incorporating ads and such to make money. Not every program works. Some do better while others do not. However, even if you build a site, be prepared to do more work to build a sturdy traffic flow.

Have you monetized your site? What works for you? (There is a poll in the sidebar related to this article… please try it out.)

Recently, I really started introducing most guest bloggers on Blondish.net. There have been a number of great people, and some that totally missed the point. Guest posting allows users to earn a little more reputation as a blogger in places where they may not normally visit. Some blogs are small, and others are influential. Often the blogger also gets a little link love back too.
However, I have been noticing that there are a lot of people who are using this as an opportunity to make money. This should not be the focus. Often these type of people are eager to Read More →

There are a lot of freelancers available online or in your local community. However, no matter how many there are, it can be difficult to choose the right one. The problem I see a lot in freelance project bidding sites are people unwilling to properly invest in their projects. They have ridiculous expectations. Here are a few innappropriate expectations:
1. Expecting a web designer to take time to do a website or a theme for their website for $30.
2. Expecting 50 comments a day for 30 days (1500 comments) for less than $250.
3. Expecting 1000s of followers in a month for Read More →

[This is a guest post by Philip Golobish. Philip Golobish is a professional SEO consultant for Slingshot SEO, an Indianapolis, Indiana. When he's not sweet talking Googlebot, Phil can be found headbanging at the local music show.]

According to a 2009 SEOmoz poll of SEO professionals, “keyword use anywhere in the title tag,” is one of the top five most influential ranking factors on a search engine’s results page. The reason it’s important is pretty simple: usability. For example, say you maintain a heavy metal music blog named “Axes and Anvils” and the site’s name is all you include in your Read More →

DeviantART has been extremely busy these past few months. Today they rolled out a new feature and launched another to the public from beta mode.
Oh, and I there were some noticed a few design tweaks to the color of the message inbox system too!
The one huge feature that was rolled out was “Stacks.” Because of groups, some of them had thousands of members. This would flood the inbox of anyone watching the group. In fact, this was a big peeve that turned up and I even had to grumble. With the new stacks system, if a group or person has Read More →

Don Power askes a great question: Going Local – How do You Use Social Media to Boost Local Business?
Teaching social media can be a tough when it comes to teaching small town local businesses. I know because I live in such an area. A lot of these business owners want immediate results and even though the prospect of having a presence online might light a bulb, it can be downright scary.
(And not to be boastful or make anyone feel bad that does live in smaller towns, I rarely find a person that is as savvy or resourceful online unless I Read More →

I do not know, but I thought the title was a bit in your face. However, I was reading Your Comment Is Awaiting Moderation by Andrea Lewis. She expressed her frustration about commenting and seeing the message that her comment will not show up yet because it is being moderated. She feels she is not considered important.
I use moderation to prevent spammers. For those with newer sites, you will not understand. For those with larger sites that have been around more than a couple years, you know the frustration of spammers. My usual policy is to moderate a Read More →

Blogging does not have to be something only talented writers and journalists can do. Blogging is suppose to be whatever the focus of the site is about, whether technology, mommy blogging, social media, or other topics. There are so many genres in the blogging world. I recently read a short article titled Why Blog? at Sugar Filled Emotions and was motivated to write a response of my own.
Blogging should never be a chore. You write what you want and when you want to. I still see sites where people post that they are hiatus from their blog. This is just Read More →